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worst birthday ever

Fear and loathing in NYC: 25 fabulous facts about ‘The Boys In The Band’

By Lee Meyer August 21, 2023 at 1:00pm · Updated on January 26, 2024
THE BOYS IN THE BAND (2020) Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington, Robin de Jes?s, Brian Hutchison, Andrew Rannells, Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Charlie Carver and Matt Bomer. Cr. Scott Everett White/NETFLIX ©2020

Netflix’s The Boys In The Band, directed by Joe Mantello and produced by Ryan Murphy, is basically the story of a birthday party from hell. As a group of gay men convene for a birthday celebration, self-loathing and resentment take center stage before the entire evening is thrown into chaos by a surprise straight (or is he?) guest. The production—a remake of the 1970 film and 1968 play by Mart Crowley—is a fascinating look at pre-AIDS life that asks difficult questions about what it means to be gay.

Read on for 25 fascinating facts about The Boys In The Band…

1. The boys are played by queer boys…

Image Credit: Getty Images

The cast includes out actors Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Robin de Jesús, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Tuc Watkins. 

3. The all-queer casting wasn’t on purpose.

Image Credit: ‘The Boys In The Band,’ Netflix

According to Sky News, both straight and gay actors auditioned for the roles, which Jim Parsons felt added to the production. “It was just an intense thing, there was a language we all seemed to speak with each other, an understanding we all had with each other that I was taken aback by,” he said.

4. The movie retains the bigoted slurs from the stage script.

Image Credit: ‘The Boys In The Band,’ Netflix

The Boys In The Band is a tough script—several characters have mean streaks and acid tongues, particularly Parsons’ Michael. Mantello told the Associated Press, “I do not believe the erasure of things that make us uncomfortable is progress… My responsibility is to the story. And the story is: This is the cost of oppression, it allows you to act in a way that is inhumane. And I felt in order to be honest to that, that you’re true to that, that it was essential that we keep it.”

6. Boyfriends Tuc Watkins and Andrew Rannells met during the stage production.

Image Credit: Getty Images

The hot couple—who bicker as a couple throughout the film about monogamy and commitment—met during the Broadway run. Watkins told The Daily Beast, “I remember thinking, this is going to be great, because Hank and Larry spend the entire play bickering and angry and resentful towards each other… So to create that relationship with someone who is caring and thoughtful and lovely, we had a great experience.”

7. There’s a sequel!

Image Credit: Getty Images

Crowley wrote a stage play sequel, The Men From The Boys, in 2002. The play follows the aftermath of Larry’s (Rannells in the film) death and again features the men in the same apartment, decades later.

9. …but he does make a cameo!

Image Credit: ‘The Boys In The Band,’ Netflix

Crowley can be seen enjoying a cocktail at Julius’ at the end of the movie.

10. Julius’ was used as a filming location in both the 1970 and 2020 films.

Image Credit: Getty Images

The bar/restaurant, famous for its 1966 “sip-in” when the Mattachine Society refused to leave despite being harassed and threatened, is used in both the 1970 and 2020 versions of The Boys In The Band.

11. The original 1970 film was one of William Friedkin’s favorite works.

Image Credit: Getty Images

While not a financial hit, the late, straight Oscar-winning director spoke fondly of the 1970 movie. He told the New York Post, “didn’t give a flying f*ck into a rolling doughnut about” making a gay-themed film. “And you know why? Because the play is brilliant. The characters are finely drawn and there is wonderful wit. It’s a bit reminiscent of Oscar Wilde. It can be mentioned in the same sentence.”

12. The original off-Broadway production ran for two years.

Image Credit: Getty Images

The play debuted in 1968 in Manhattan, where it had a healthy run.

13. The Broadway production was nominated for two Tony Awards and won one.

Image Credit: Getty Images

The Boys In The Band won the Tony for Best Revival of a Play, while De Jesús was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play.

14. Murphy and director Mantello have worked together many times on queer projects.

Image Credit: Getty Images

Murphy and Mantello also collaborated on The Normal Heart, Hollywood, and American Horror Story: NYC.

15. Mantello had trepidation about the project.

Image Credit: ‘The Boys In The Band,’ Netflix

The director told Deadline, “I think like a lot of people my first reaction when I heard The Boys In The Band was that it was problematic for a number of reasons,” but admitted he grew to love the complex and dramatic script.

16. Many Murphy regulars appear in the film.

Image Credit: ‘The Boys In The Band,’ Netflix

Carver, Quinto, Bomer, and Rannells have all appeared in various Murphy productions, including American Horror Story and The Normal Heart. 

17. A 30-minute documentary accompanied the release.

THE BOYS IN THE BAND (2020) Tuc Watkins as Hank, Andrew Rannells as Larry, Matt Bomer as Donald, Jim Parsons as Michael, Zachary Quinto as Harold, Robin de Jes?s as Emory, Brian Hutchison as Alan, Michael Benjamin Washington as Bernard and Charlie Carver as Cowboy. Cr. Scott Everett White/NETFLIX ©2020THE BOYS IN THE BAND

A documentary that largely focuses on Crowley, The Boys In The Band: Something Personal, was released alongside the film. 

18. Crowley was the assistant and close friend of Natalie Wood.

Image Credit: Getty Images

Crowley wrote the film while working as an assistant to the late Hollywood star. The two were close friends and she reportedly supported him wholeheartedly.

19. The Boys In The Band is heavily referenced in The Celluloid Closet.

Image Credit: ‘The Celluloid Closet,’ Sony Pictures Classics

The famous line, “It’s not always the way it is in plays. Not all f*ggots bump themselves off at the end of the story!” is featured prominently in the documentary, The Celluloid Closet, which explores the often-problematic depiction of homosexuality in film.

21. Certain characters are inspired by Crowley’s real-life friends.

Image Credit: ‘The Boys In The Band,’ Netflix

According to Logo, Crowley based Michael on himself, and Harold (Quinto) on famous choreographer Howard Jeffrey.

22. Mantello added a slightly more hopeful ending to the film.

THE BOYS IN THE BAND (2020) Jim Parsons as Michael. Cr. Scott Everett White/NETFLIX ©2020

While everybody’s upset and worse for wear by the end of The Boys In The Band, Mantello ended the film on a slightly more hopeful coda, showing the characters leaving the ill-fated birthday party and going on with their lives. In the final shot, Michael runs off down the street, rather than slamming his door shut like in the play.

23. Producers pushed back at criticism surrounding De Jesus’ casting.

Image Credit: ‘The Boys In The Band,’ Netflix

After The Wrap writer Alonso Duralde argued that casting a Latino actor in the role of Emory took the bite out of the character’s racist statements, producer and co-writer Ned Martel argued, “Mr. Duralde insists that the casting of Robin de Jesús, in the role of Emory, was an act of ‘cheating.’ I insist on accuracy: Mart never declared which race this character is, was, or needed to be. As a producer, Mart also approved of Robin’s hiring (and delighted in his performance), so I reject Mr. Duralde’s claim that we rolled past any restriction when we made Emory a Latinx character. Literally: Where is it written?”

24. Carver envisioned a solo film about his character, Cowboy.

Image Credit: ‘The Boys In The Band,’ Netflix

Carver told Gay Times he’d be into a solo film featuring his sex worker character’s adventures and even suggested a title: “Cowboy and the Johns.”

25. Parsons had reservations about the role.

Image Credit: ‘The Boys In The Band,’ Netflix

“When I first read it, I did feel concerned,” Parsons told Sky News. “I wasn’t sure, I had not seen it before, I’d never read it before, and I wasn’t sure I really understood what was going on,” he said. But Parsons went on to love the role.

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16 Comments*

  • Man About Town

    Speaking of birthdays, today is the birthday of both Mart Crowley and Robin de Jesus.

    Oh, and also Jeff Stryker!

  • crazyoldman

    I was just struggling to come out when the original came out. I thought OMG, what a miserable I am looking at. My life turned out just wonderful, thanks. However, I can not bring myself to watch it, even though it has been over 50 years.

    • Rambeaux

      Me too.
      I furtively paid and sneaked into a theatre here in town. I was still in High School.
      The movie disturbed me and was quite depressing thinking that this was going to be my fate.
      Fortunately, my life has been much happier.
      I have watched the remake. It’s not bad but I am glad that I can view it through a more mature lens.

  • Mattster

    It is a depressing movie. I have gone through periods where I watched pretty much everything, and I could never get through it. It’s from a different era, where gay people were so starved for representation we would go see anything that would mention “gay”, no matter how terrible. I suppose awful is in some ways better than invisibility?

    We are fortunate that there are now so many queer filmmakers telling so many different stories, and while mainstream representation is still far from perfect, it’s far better than it was.

  • Den

    The original film kept me from coming out to family and many friends for quite a while. It never really made clear whether these broken characters were broken due to oppression or simply broken because homosexuality is an illness. It definitely played into all the stereotypes heterosexual people held dear. The straight friends I went with loved it (I was not out to them). I hated it, one friend who (unbeknownst to any of us) was in conversion therapy at the time with a well respected psychiatrist in NYC (who got my friend addicted to drugs) was deeply disturbed by the film.

    I had been sneaking away to incredible events in The Firehouse (a Gay Liberation venue that had dances and parties, which hinted at a better life) when I was home from school. I was singing with a rock band, and we played all the gay dances at Cornell (where I was attending), and I could see the ambivalence the gay students had towards us. Very messed up times for me, and the movie did not help.

    I will definitely not see this remake. It was a depiction of pitiful sad people and made it easy to feel pitiful was intrinsic to who they were. At my 20 year high school reunion a everyone knew I had come out and been active and vocal. A friend who was also gay but had chosen to retreat into Catholicism rather than come out said to me “I don’t know how you can allow yourself to succumb to that pathology”. He killed himself a few years later while trying to get tenure at Harvard.

  • Den

    Never forget the right wants to see us recriminalized and back in the closet or worse. The Corrupt Clarence Thomas is dying to revisit Obergefel just as he was to revisit Roe.

    • Ronbo

      Yet there he sits. Did the Democrats in charge remove or impeach him? Did they expand the court as in the past?

      Our elderly are making millions in stock picks. No time for rules, ethics or voters. We deserve better.

  • Tombear

    I saw the film when I was a young gay in training. Not out of the closet yet but yearned to be naked with a man. I thought the film made gay life pitiful. Was anyone really happy?

  • Jim

    Saw the original when I was in High School.
    Groundbreaking and pre-Stonewall.
    How much does the movie say beyond hype?

  • jackmister

    When I was in my 20s, we used to watch the 1970 version on VHS all the time, quote the lines, we thought it was hysterically funny/dated/campy. When I got a little older, I found it a little depressing. The remake does a much better job at making the characters more sympathetic. I would recommend it to those who didn’t like the original.

  • Brian

    Tuc Watkins is hot as hell.

    I had trouble watching the film, though. All of the characters are mean, and I kept asking myself, “How are these people all friends? *Are* they even friends?” Why would such an awful night need to be retold?

  • theaterbloke

    I remember the original playing at one of the cinemas in the mall I used to hang out in, but it was rated “R” and I was too young. I asked the age limit to make sure but, no, too young. Years later I saw it on TV, mostly for Keith Prentice who was in the closing cast of Dark Shadows and couldn’t understand the rating other than the gay subject matter. I did see the David Drake revival but not the more recent one. I see it as a slice of life from an unhappier time, something to acknowledge but something never to return to.

  • barryaksarben

    I loved this movie. It showed a group of gay friends and if you are honest alot of groups still micmic this type of friendship. the bitchy funny banter. Yes, it is a dated movie but it is a part of our history. Gay liberation wasnt just a bunch of well adjusted gays popping up out of thin air There was adjustments and some of it was painful. I knew every single one of these guys and I found a great deal of hope in the movie. I think it was historically accurate for the time

  • Huron132

    I seen this beginning of the 80’s. I was just understanding I was gay at that time. I was 18. I saw the original and was so confused and didn’t understand it, I thought is this what my life will be like. It was soul sucking to me. When the new movie came out it took me like 2-3 years to watch it. I did and was glad I did. It made so much sense to me . Yes there was some of my past that was similr to this story. But in all honesty I think this is just a part of life. You choose your friends and you love them no matter what. You take the ugly of your friends and hang on to them. Because you know without them you didn’t live life.

  • Mr.Gavin Elster

    Like it, or not the BITB play and film, the title came from a line in the 1954 Judy Garland “A Star Is Born,” takes on an almost brutal, documentarian look at 1960’s NYC gay men. The fact that most of these men were portrayed as relatively”out” and successful, employed tax-payers, (and I hope voters!,)tells you something, right there. The anger, bitcheness, sarcasm and camp was a form of protective armour we sadly will probably have to suit-up in again come November 2024! I write this as the GOP just elected one of the most hateful, homophobic members of congress to the office of speaker. FYI he was born AFTER the BITB movie came-out!

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